


Hibernation Sickness

by Raynebow_of_the_Rising_Sun



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 04:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raynebow_of_the_Rising_Sun/pseuds/Raynebow_of_the_Rising_Sun
Summary: A longish one shot.





	Hibernation Sickness

The Supreme Leader looked more pleased than any man the bounty hunter had ever seen. His excited anticipation was a palpable thing so strong it sent shivers down the hunter's spine. 

"Excellent work, Tyrus." Supreme Leader beamed. "Your payment will be delivered to your ship within the hour, in the meantime, Corporal Lanson will see to it that your wait is a pleasent one."

"Many thanks, Your Excellency." The hunter, Tyrus, bowed then followed the greenclad Corporal from the otherwise empty throne room.

Once alone in the massive chamber, Kylo rushed to further inspect his prize.

A large block of bronze floated in the center of the room, blinking lights on it's side attesting to the fact that she was alive within the carbonite.

He peered down at her face, frozen with a serene look that reminded him of that moment on Starkiller when she had closed her eyes and conciously tapped into the living Force for the first time. 

_Of course,_ he thought with a smug smile, _you would reach for the Force when all hope is gone._

"Security Protocol Alpha zero zero one, override all electronic feeds in the throne room, voice print authorization, Kylo Ren."

"Voice print accepted, Supreme Leader." A soft, mechanical voice informed him. "All electronic monitoring suspended."

"Rey." He breathed, stroking her bronze-encased cheek with trembling fingers. 

Kylo wanted to remove her from the imprisoning block of carbonite immediately but he knew how unwise that move would be.

Over the course of the past two years he had chased her around the galaxy, throwing everything he had at her. In that time their minds had forged dozens of connections which she had withdrawn from without so much as a word spoken to him. 

Everytime their minds had connected she'd glared at him with bitter disappointment for a moment before closing him out of her life again… and everytime she'd done that he'd grown more and more desperate to find her. To catch her. To talk to her. Face to face.

He almost looked forward to the fury she would undoubtedly unleash on him when he freed her from the carbonite. Fury was something he could handle, cold silence and sad stares were not. 

"Soon." he promised then straightened to his full height and Force pushed the block of carbonite ahead of him to his private suite just off the side of the empty throne room. Before he could free her, he had one last loose end to tie up.

Returning to his throne, he summoned General Hux and a dozen other high ranking officers. As he waited for their arrival he restored the normal security measures and readied the evidenciary file he had compiled for just this occasion.

Hux, of course, was the last to arrive.

Kylo kept his expression carefully blank as the ginger General strutted up to the bottom step before the black throne upon which he sat.

"Supreme Leader." Hux said with just enough sneer in his voice to make a few of the other officers shift uncomfortably.

Kylo briefly wondered if preditors felt this thrill of anticipation just before they struck. A flicker of amusement crossed his features at the thought.

"General Armitage Hux," Kylo said with all of the stiff formality expected from the ruler of the galaxy. "You stand accused of sedition, conspiracy, regicide and genocide, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Hux froze, an incredulous look on his face. "I beg your pardon?" He snapped.

"You can beg all you like, but you wont get my pardon, only justice." Kylo said darkly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I demand to know who accuses me of this pack of lies!" Hux glanced around at the other officers, who all looked as shocked and confused as Hux himself. His eyes widened as realization slowly dawned on him and he turned back to face Kylo.

"I do." Kylo said ominously, his face a study in predatory bloodlust.

Hux somehow managed to grow even more rigid at the sight. "Beyond ridiculous!" Hux said stiffly. "I have commited no crimes."

Kylo raised one ebony brow at Hux. With a sneer on his patrician face Kylo said firmly, "Play holo zero three zero three five one."

A larger than life holovid burst into the space between Kylo and Hux.

Hux stood tall, a sour look on his face as security footage from his speech on Starkiller, just before the destruction of the Hosnian system, played between them. When it finished Kylo asked Hux, "Do you deny being responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian system?"

"I was under orders from Supreme Leader Snoke." Hux scoffed.

Kylo smiled grimly, "Play holo two two nine four eight."

Hux's haughtiness turned to bafflement as a short clip from Snoke's throne room began to play. The clip showed Hux standing before Snoke, his back to the recorder. Two bright flashes of red and smoking holes appearing in Snoke's forehead and chest.

"That's not real!" Hux gasped. "That's not how Supreme Leader Snoke died! Computer, play file Zed-Zed-Zed-Ren."

A holo of Snoke's throne room appeared, depicting the exact moment Kylo and Rey had stepped into the room and everything that had followed. 

Hux watched triumphantly, his pomposity restored as the blue lightsaber neatly carved Snoke into pieces.

When the holo finished Hux smiled at Kylo in a manner so arrogant that Kylo nearly burst into a grin himself.

"Which leads us to the conspiracy and sedition charges." Kylo said, working hard to keep himself contained. 

"Gentlemen," he addressed the other officers, "what was Supreme Leader Snoke's cause of death?"

Without hessitation a tall, thin medical officer stepped forward and answered, "Two blaster wounds, one to the head, one to the heart."

The others were swift to concur.

Kylo turned his attention fully back to Hux.

"Who helped you create this traitorous false holo, General?" Kylo demanded.

"What?" Hux barked. "That's the real security footage! Your's is the fake!"

"If you wont give me the names of your co-conspirators I will have no choice but to execute you, General." Kylo warned then repeted his demand for the names.

Hux's bravado failed him miserably, he cried out desperately, "You can't do this to me! I have the evidence! The real evidence! You slew Snoke! You murdered our Supreme Leader! For a filthy rebel scavanger who didn't even want you!"

Kylo cocked his head to the side and studied Hux for a breathless moment before saying in an almost bored tone, "So, you're refusing to name your allies."

Hux could only sputter as Kylo's hand flicked almost lazily and the ginger General's throat collapsed in on itself making speech impossible.

Kylo dismissed the officers, thanking them for their time before ordering the computer to broadcast the trial of General Hux across the newsnet. Once alone in the cavernous room he stood, walked over to Hux's corpse, stared at it a moment then strolled away towards his suite and the chaos he knew he could not forstall for even another moment.

She was right where he'd left her, frozen in carbonite, looking as serene as he'd ever seen her. He took a long last look before pressing in the code to wake her from her captive hibernation.

It didn't take long.

Rey's eyes flickered open and panic seized her as she jerked upright in the pitch black darkness. Dizziness washed over her, nearly causing her to collapse. She jumped and lashed out as a pair of hands grasped her firmly by the shoulders. "Why can't I see anything?"

"You have hibernation sickness. It'll pass in a few hours." His voice was tinged with disappointment.

Her skin prickled at the sound of his voice and instantly she knew where she was, what had happened and who was responsible. 

"You treacherous snake." She hissed. "You had me abducted."

"Yes, I did." He said mildly.

"I wont join you." She said defiantly.

"I know." He said.

"I wont betray the resistance." She swore.

"I know that, too." He replied.

"Then why am I still alive?" She demanded.

"I don't want you dead." He said quietly.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

He didn't answer. 

She couldn't see him, could barely hear him breathing, but she could feel him. The Force surrounding him was alive with sensations and emotions that both confused and frightened her.

"You want me to forgive you." She mused, tapping into his emotions.

"What else?" His voice was a rough caress.

"You're lonely… you miss me." She shook herself and withdrew from his energies. 

"What else?"

"I don't care what else." She said stubbornly. "You chose your path, I chose mine."

"What else, Rey?" He insisted just as stubbornly.

"The rest is your problem, not mine." She said sharply.

"You're wrong." His breath fanned over her face. "I'm making it your problem."

Rey flinch at the feel of his lips on hers but his hands held her in place while his lips demolished her resistance.

He scooped her into his arms and carried her to his bed.

She stiffened at the realization of where she was and pulled her mouth from his. Panting unevenly she shoved against his chest and gasped, "No!" 

"Relax," He said only slightly less winded, and withdrew from her, his voice floating further away with every word. "You'll feel better in a few hours, then we can talk."

The hiss of the door opening sent a mixture of relief and disappointment swirling through her.

"Stay here," he said from the doorway. "You'll only get yourself caught or killed if you try escaping before you can see or have the strength to fight."

The door hissed closed and Rey considered her options. She hated to admit it, but he was right, she was in no condition to attempt an escape.

With little else to do but wait to feel better Rey relaxed against the pillows and thought back over the last memories she could recall before waking up blind, nauseated and weak.

She'd been on Jakku, interrogating Unkar Plutt for information about her parents. He'd resisted her mind probes but told her what he could remember of them once she'd pressed a blaster against his bulbous head. 

She had returned to her 'borrowed' speeder and then… nothing. She had woken up in darkness with Kylo Ren standing over her.

At the thought of him her mind flashed to the scortching heat rolling off him in jagged waves as he'd kissed her stupid. Even alone in the darkness she felt her cheeks heat into a blush as the memory of that flooded through her mind. Never had she imagined his lips would be that soft, his kiss that gentle. Unconciously, her fingers rose to her still tingling lips.

Kylo was halfway across the throneroom when he felt her resentment melt away into a maelstrom of hungry confusion and knew without having to read her mind that she was thinking about the kiss. He stopped walking and turned back toward the door. He was torn between wanting to give her some time to recover from the hibernation sickness and wanting to go back and resolve things so he could kiss her again. 

Rey felt him pause, felt his attention focus on her and she was torn between wanting him to come back and wanting him to go away until she wasn't so vulnerable.

Kylo stood frozen with indecision for several moments, then, with a grimace, turned and walked quickly away. 

Rey let out a sigh but even she wasn't sure whether it was from relief or disappointment. 

He was giving her time… she found that as odd as it was unexpected. She was his prisoner, his enemy - yet here she was, lying in his bed, recovering in his room instead of being strapped to a table and probed or tortured for information. And he had kissed her stupid. And she had kissed him back.

She pulled the pillow out from behind her head and buried her face into it to scream out her frustration before dragging in a deep breath heavy with his scent and then screaming into the pillow about that too.

Kylo cursed himself for a fool as he strode purposefully across the throne room to his private gym. A few hours of exhaustive working out should help him control himself better, he figured as he stripped down to his skivvies and threw himself into blowing of steam and working up a sweat. He supposed that if he pushed himself hard enough he might be able to ignore the shivers and spikes of her shifting emotions drifting across the throne room, calling to him like siren-song.

After more than hour of enduring periodic waves of hunger emanating from his bedroom Kylo felt Rey drift off to sleep and was finally able to draw an easy breath. He didn't quite trust himself enough to stop bleeding off his excess energy with exercize just yet, so he snatched a jump-rope off the wall beside him and put it to good use until he could barely catch his breath.

Finally tired enough to not feel ready to fly apart at the seams he crossed to the in-gym refresher and stripped off his sweat soaked underwear before stepping into the steaming spray of hot water. 

Showered, shaved and dressed, Kylo crossed back to his room and paused outside the door to focus on her Force energies. Satisfied that she was still asleep he triggered the door and walked in as quietly as a shadow. 

From the moment the door opened his eyes were riveted on her where she lay utop his blankets, her back toward the door, curled into herself, clutching his pillow with all four limbs. He had to stifle a groan as his body reacted almost violently to the sight of her like that.

He drifted across the floor towards her, dazed but grateful for the chance to observe her without the need to hide his gaze or thoughts from her or anyone else.

Rey tensed in her sleep, flipping to her back, arching up off the bed as a groan tore from her throat.

He didn't need to read her thoughts to know what she was dreaming of. He frowned and reached toward her, slipping into her nightmare.

His taunting voice echoed and swirled around her like a living thing as white hot pain blazed through her skull and down her spine, setting her entire nervous system aflame.

Kylo looked around in stupification. He had correctly guessed the content of her dream, she was suspended in the scarlet throne room, screaming in agony, but it wasn't Snoke torturing her… it was Kylo himself.

"No!" He bellowed at himself, throwing up his right hand to Force choke the grotesque version of himself that was causing Rey so much pain.

Rey jerked awake, her blurry eyes locking onto Kylo's blazing ones the instant they opened.

"I would never do that to you." He swore vehemently.

She stared up at him for a moment in wide eyed fear as her brain caught up with reality. 

"Why not?" She asked after a tense beat.

"You know why not." He said earnestly.

"Say it." She prompted, just as he had done to her on more than one occasion.

"Because, I love you." His voice, barely more than a whisper, carried a wealth of emotion that left no doubt he meant it.

Her eyes widened and her sharply indrawn breath caught in her throat.

"And I need you." He reached his bare hand out to caress a tear from her cheek. "And I'll do anything to have you by my side. Anything you want."

She swallowed hard and looked him in the eye, "End this war."

"Done." He said firmly.

"Let the galaxy decide their own ruling system." She demanded.

"Done." He repeted.

"Kiss me, again?" She asked with a touch of shyness in her tone.

He grinned broadly and did just that.


End file.
